Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

This article is about the Nintendo DS game. For the Nintendo 3DS remake, see Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
North American box cover For alternate box art, see the related gallery.
Developers	AlphaDream Nintendo SPD Group No.4
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform	Nintendo DS
Release dates	February 11, 2009 February 11, 2009 September 14, 2009 October 9, 2009 October 22, 2009 July 21, 2011
Languages	English (United States) English (United Kingdom) Japanese French (Canada) French (Europe) German Italian Korean Spanish (Latin America) Spanish (Europe)
Genre	RPG
Ratings	ESRB: - Everyone[?] CERO: - All ages[?] PEGI: - Three years and older[?] USK: - Six years and older[?] RARS: - All ages ClassInd: - General audience[?] GRAC: - All ages[?] ACB: - General[?]
Mode	Single player
Format	Nintendo DS: Game Card
Input	Nintendo DS: Gamepad
Serial codes	NTR-CLJJ-JPN NTR-CLJE-USA NTR-CLJP-EUR NTR-CLJE-AUS NTR-CLJK-KOR

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story is a Nintendo DS game developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo. It was released in most territories in 2009 and in South Korea in mid-2011. It is the third title in the Mario & Luigi series, preceded by Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, also for the DS, in 2005 and succeeded by Mario & Luigi: Dream Team for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013. The game centers around Mario and Luigi setting off an adventure through Bowser's insides.

Unlike the previous two installments in the Mario & Luigi series, it is the only one that was never released on the Virtual Console for the Wii U.

A Nintendo 3DS remake of the game, titled Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, was released in Japan on December 27, 2018, and elsewhere in January 2019. Outside Japan, the release year marked the 10th anniversary of this game. This is the second game in the Mario & Luigi series after Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga to have a remake. This game also marks the debut of Starlow, who would become a recurring character in the series.

Story

The blorbs being discussed.

After the Mushroom Kingdom's citizens start contracting the blorbs, a disease that swells Toads, Princess Peach holds an emergency conference meeting at her castle, which includes Mario, Luigi, Toadbert, Toadsworth, and a Star Sprite named Starlow. Bowser crashes in and is sent flying out of Peach's Castle after easily being defeated by Mario, eventually landing in Dimble Wood, and after regaining consciousness, he comes across a cloaked merchant (who is Fawful in disguise). The merchant gives him a "Lucky Mushroom" that causes Bowser to inhale his surroundings. He returns to Peach's Castle and uses this ability to suck in everyone who attended the conference.

Mario, Luigi, and Starlow reawaken inside the Trash Pit area of Bowser's body, where they acquire hammers and use them to hit an exposed nerve and rouse Bowser, who had been dumped in Cavi Cape Cave. Starlow, who talks to Bowser throughout the game, withholds information surrounding the Mario Bros.' whereabouts and assists him in remembering the past events. Bowser then encounters Fawful, who explains that the blorbs and the Vacuum Shroom he gave him were all part of a plan to conquer both the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser's Castle. He sends out his minion, Midbus, whose speech irritates the Koopa King so much that he decides to pick a fight with him. Bowser is unable to defeat Midbus, who leaves with Fawful.

Bowser helps a stranded Broque Monsieur get back on Plack Beach, where the sentient block rewards him a Vacuum Block, allowing him to control his sucking abilities. After defeating the Sea Pipe Statue, Bowser drinks water which allows Mario and Luigi to enter the Pump Works and defeat the Scutlet bug that was blocking his fire breath at the Flame Pipe. Starlow starts using the alias "Chippy" to Bowser. After subduing Broque's pet dog Broggy, Bowser enters Dimble Wood, where he eventually comes across three of his minions: Sergeant Guy, Corporal Paraplonk, and Private Goomp. They plan to retake Bowser's castle with a Banzai Bill launcher, where Bowser is required to find ammunition. Bowser procures a giant carrot as a makeshift missile, but the owner, a Wiggler, makes him eat it and then attacks him. After he obtains the Banzai Bill from the Wiggler, Bowser is then overcome with stomach pain caused by consuming a parasitic Durmite along with the carrot; Mario and Luigi defeat it in battle.

After his stomach issue is resolved, Bowser proceeds to launch the Banzai Bill towards Bowser Castle. However, Midbus dodges his Banzai Bill by launching the castle and landing it on him. The Mario Bros. revive Bowser from the Rump Command, which unintentionally turns him as giant as the castle. After Bowser defeats the castle, it flies away with him in pursuit, traveling through Bumpsy Plains and Bowser Path to reach the destination. Bowser deflects Midbus's iron ball, which knocks the castle down. Entering his castle, Bowser discovers that Fawful has turned it into a theater and brainwashed most of Bowser's Minions into a pack of his own adoring fans. Fawful himself arrives and tricks Bowser, forcing him to perform a cage match with Midbus on stage. When Bowser wins, his prize is being forcibly fed fattening foods cooked by Fawful, gaining so much weight that he breaks through the floor and becomes trapped.

Peach tells the story about the Dark Star.

Exploring the newly opened Flab Zone and defeating some Kretin enemies, Mario and Luigi are reunited with Princess Peach, who explains that Fawful is actually after the Dark Star, an evil entity locked away under Toad Town that can only be revived using Peach herself. Fawful then uses a laser to remove Peach from Bowser's body, and he and Midbus subsequently kidnap her, while Bowser falls the rest of the way through the floor onto a treadmill they placed beneath him in the basement. He literally burns off all the excess fat, igniting a crate of Bob-ombs in the process. In the explosion, he is launched to a tunnel below Cavi Cape. He meets up with some Monty Mole minions and helps them drill all the way to Toad Town, but when Bowser wanders into the corridor leading to the Dark Star, the security system activates and electrocutes him, rendering him unconscious.

Mario and Luigi gain access to the Pipe Yard in Bowser's body, which allows them to use warp pipes to return to the outside world. They emerge in the Toad Town Caves themselves and try to head off and stop Fawful, but arrive too late. Fawful takes the Dark Star to Peach's Castle and uses its power to create a barrier preventing the Mario Bros. from following him. With no other option, they head to Dr. Toadley to try and do something about the blorbs problem instead, but Bowser arrives at the clinic as well and the three battle, with Bowser losing. Dr. Toadley then tells Mario and Luigi that they need to collect three Star Cures to cure the blorbs and possibly find a way into the castle. Bowser awakens, hears this, and rushes off, determined to find the cures before the Bros. Dr. Toadley then reveals to Mario and Luigi that the first cure is held by Durmite inside Bowser's body, and they head back in to get it. They locate Durmite immediately, but it flees through an impassable, Boo-like barrier, stopping the Mario Bros. in their tracks.

Yikk presents the Boo-Ray Machine.

Meanwhile, Bowser heads to the shores of Blubble Lake, where his sneezes raise the propeller-topped Tower of Yikk out of the water and straight onto him. The Mario Bros. supersize Bowser again and he defeats the moving tower, venturing inside once he shrinks back to his regular size and meeting the ghost of Yikk, who shines his invention, the Boo-ray Machine, on Bowser's gut. The light from the machine causes the Boo-like barrier to disappear and help Mario and Luigi navigate the maze beyond them, allowing them to track down Durmite, who reveals herself to be a sage named Wisdurm. She battles them, turning to a butterfly after her defeat, dropping the Star Cure, and flying off.

Bowser leaves the tower and meets up with Private Goomp, who tells him that he already had one of the Star Cures locked away in his treasure chamber, having recently stolen it from an old Koopa named Kuzzle. Bowser returns to his castle, regaining access to his treasure vault by pushing a statue of Fawful through the barricades in the floor, only to find that the Monty Bros. are now under Fawful's control and have built a railway straight through the vault. They use the Fawful Express to ram him out of the castle and into a boulder, resulting in another emergency revival and a giant battle between Bowser and the train. Returning to his vault after destroying the train, Bowser realizes that he has forgotten the combination to the safe that the Star Cure is stored in and asks "Chippy" to retrieve it for him. In the Memory Banks, Mario and Luigi have to defeat blocky doppelgangers of themselves, crafted from Bowser's own memories of them. After that, they reassemble a puzzle representing the memory and Bowser opens his safe, only to be pushed in by Private Goomp, Sergeant Guy, and Corporal Paraplonk, who had turned to Fawful's side. Out of frustration, Bowser eats the Star Cure, which is retrieved from his gut by the Mario Bros.

Mario and Luigi return to Toad Town and are sent after the final Star Cure by Dr. Toadley. Guided by the doctor's messenger bird, Birdley, they meet the sage known as Chakron at the top of a cliff over Plack Beach, but he will only give them the Star Cure if they can knock him out of the pose he has held for a thousand years. After a cryptic hint from Chakron, the Bros. head for Dimble Wood to collect Attack Pieces for the ground-shaking Snack Basket move, but Mario is kidnapped by a Sockop and has to be rescued by Luigi, who wears a knocked-out Sockop like a Goomba's Shoe to sneak into the enemies' territory. Reunited and having gathered all the pieces, the brothers return to Chakron and knock him over, so true to his word, he gives them the final Star Cure.

The Miracle Cure curing the blorb-infected Toads.

Back at the clinic, Dr. Toadley creates the Miracle Cure from the three Star Cures, which flies around ridding all the Toads of the blorbs and then allows Mario and Luigi to blast their way through the barriers to get to Peach's Castle. They search the gardens for a way in and are attacked by Midbus, who uses the remote-control Junker robot to fight them. The Mario Bros. win the battle, and the robot goes haywire, throwing the safe containing Bowser into a pile of garbage, breaking it open. Bowser's back seized up from being in the cramped safe for so long, so Mario and Luigi go back inside him to fix it, allowing him to break into Peach's Castle for them.

Bowser fights his way to Fawful and Midbus as they are slowly awakening the Dark Star. Fawful supercharges his minion into Blizzard Midbus, but Bowser wins the ensuing fight and Midbus's new ice powers end up freezing him solid. Bowser punches out Fawful as he tries to absorb the Dark Star's powers and he only gets a portion of it, with the rest of the revived evil entity forcing its way inside Bowser. Mario and Luigi chase the Dark Star around as it absorbs Bowser's DNA and takes on his characteristics, eventually emerging as an incomplete copy of Bowser, which kidnaps Peach and leaves in search of the rest of its power. Bowser goes after it but is sidetracked by a final giant battle against Peach's Castle, which had been transformed into a giant robot by Fawful. He then battles Fawful himself, now souped-up by the Dark Star's powers into Dark Fawful. Bowser wins the fight and Fawful turns into a small ball of dark energy and tries to flee, but he gets inhaled by Dark Bowser, completing the Dark power.

The real Bowser goes after his copy, chasing it to the tallest tower where it deposits the unconscious Peach before being confronted by Bowser. The final battle is waged on two fronts, starting off with Bowser fighting his clone, before punching it in the gut and forcing it to spit up Fawful. Bowser inhales Fawful, and Mario and Luigi take over the fight, defeating both Fawful and the Dark Star Core, leaving Dark Bowser unstable. After Bowser delivers a final blow, Dark Bowser dissolves, leaving only the Dark Star, which rises into the sky and explodes, restoring the Mushroom Kingdom to normal.

Inside Bowser, a battered and unstable Fawful appears in front of the Mario Bros., seemingly accepting defeat to them and saying that he will go away permanently, but he is actually faking it as he uses this opportunity to try and take the Mario Bros. with him in a final explosion of his own while sporting a large, dying grin on his face. All this accomplishes though is making Bowser regurgitate everyone he had inhaled. The liberated Toads and the now-conscious Peach move to congratulate Mario and Luigi on a job well done, and Bowser, confused and angry, realizes that the brothers had been inside his body the whole time. Starlow dismissively tells Bowser to not worry about what's in the past but discovering that she was his supposedly loyal minion "Chippy" sends him into a rage. The Toads and the Princess flee from the scene, and the credits show a montage of still images showing that Bowser loses the ensuing fight.

Bowser's cake.

Afterward, the heavily-injured Bowser is seen lying in bed at his castle while Private Goomp, Sergeant Guy, and Corporal Paraplonk beg him for forgiveness for trusting Fawful. Birdley arrives with a package from Peach, but when Starlow pops out of it to check in on him, Bowser angrily tells her to leave, as he is too busy fixing his castle to attack again anytime soon. He orders Private Goomp, Sergeant Guy and Corporal Paraplonk to join in repairing then castle. Once he is alone, Bowser opens the package, revealing a thank-you cake with his face, Mario, Luigi, and Peach on it.

As in the other Mario & Luigi games, there is no "Endless Play" feature. As such, if the player plays the game after it is beaten and the ending is done, the game just starts from the last save point, before the final battle.

Battle system

The battle system of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story is similar to that of its predecessors. There are some new additions to the system. In this installment, all Action Commands are evaluated based on how well they are performed. There are five evaluation levels. Ranging from the worst to the best, these levels are: Nothing, OK, Good, Great, and Excellent. The better an Action Command is performed, the more damage an attack does. Receiving a Nothing is equivalent to not performing an Action Command at all. This is carried into all the later installments of the series.

Stats

Each brother and Bowser have their own HP, SP, POW, DEF, and SPEED, as well as STACHE points for the brothers, and HORN points for Bowser. When they finish a battle, they each gain EXP Points and coins. With enough Experience Points, they can level-up and increase each respective statistic.

Stat	Description
	HP, or Heart Points, indicate the amount of remaining health a character has. When an enemy hits a character, they lose HP. When their HP reaches zero, they pass out, but can be revived with a 1-Up Mushroom or a 1-Up Deluxe. HP can be replenished with a Mushroom, a Nut or a Drumstick (Bowser only).
	SP, or Special Points, indicates how many times Mario, Luigi, or Bowser can use a Special Move. Each attack uses up a certain amount of SP, draining the total. SP can only be restored by ingesting Syrup Jars.
	POW, or Power, is how strong the fighter is. POW determines how much damage they can inflict.
	DEF, or Defense, is how much damage the character can block from an enemy hit. A higher DEF stat means less damage is taken.
	SPEED is how fast the character is. In any given battle, the fighter with the most SPEED gets to attack first. The turn then continues, allowing fighters with subsequently lower SPEED to attack until the fighter with the lowest SPEED has attacked. The fighter with the most SPEED then gets to attack again, and the cycle continues until a fight is over.
	STACHE, a Mario and Luigi exclusive stat, is the luck stat of this game. The higher their STACHE stats are, the greater there is a chance of a lucky hit, which deals 1.5× damage. A higher STACHE stat in shops makes the player receive better Scratch Cards with better chances of a win.
	HORN, a Bowser exclusive stat, functions exactly the same as STACHE does.

Mario and Luigi's battle system

Mario and Luigi battling.

The battle system with Mario and Luigi is similar to the battles from the previous games. There are now six categories of attack during battle, as opposed to Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time's five, or Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga's four. These are Jump, Hammer, Attack Pieces (Bros. Items), Items, Bros. Badges, and Escape. The Bros. can defend with their jump and their hammers. The Jump makes Mario and/or Luigi jump to dodge an attack or to counter-attack. The Hammer is used to counter-attack. The music played while battling is the same as the music played during the debut trailer, as seen in the Japanese site.

A new element has been added to battles, a gauge at the bottom of the screen with Mario and Luigi's heads on either end. When Mario or Luigi pull off an action command, that brother's end of the bar fills slightly. When they meet in the middle, it is possible to use a Bros. Badge move. The effect varies with the equipped badge. The normal effect is to restore 20% of both brothers' HP. Badges can be bought in one of the shops in Toad Town. Some of the badges require that the Action Commands be pulled off perfectly (EXCELLENT is displayed), and some only need GOOD!. An extra block that appears in the battles can be used to swap the badges that brothers use.

Bowser's battle system

Bowser battling.

Bowser has almost the same battle system as Mario and Luigi's, but with a few differences. He has different options: Punch replaces Jump, Flame replaces Hammer, and he has his own Special Attacks that mostly involve his army. However, he does not have Bros. Badges. Instead, Bowser gains a vacuum ability after the player advances further through the game. He can swallow enemies with this new ability to make Mario and Luigi fight them in his belly. He can also swallow parts of enemies that can restore his HP, raise defense or attack power, or rescue a Blitty. Bowser's defenses are the Punch and the Shell. Bowser's Punch can counter-attack an enemy, while his spiky shell can hit enemies that try to jump on his head or protect him from attacks.

Bowser's Special Attacks mostly use members of his army, which are Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Shy Guys, Bob-ombs, Magikoopas, and Broggy. These attacks require the stylus to perform. These characters need to be liberated to unlock these attacks.

Special Attacks

Bowser Specials

Bowser has six Special Attacks, five of which are obtained via destroying cages contained Bowser's trapped minions.

Special Attack	Illustration	Description	SP	Location
Goomba Storm		Touch each Goomba to fire him up! Flaming Goombas cause more damage! Target: One enemy. Effect: BURN.	6	Dimble Wood (after rescuing the Goomba corps)
Shy Guy Squad		←Quickly slide the stylus repeatedly left. Roll Bowser far back for more damage! Target: One enemy. Effect: None.	8	Bowser Path (after rescuing the Shy Guy corps)
Koopa Corps		Slide the stylus to move Bowser up and down and repel the Koopa Shells! Target: Random. Effect: None.	10	Blubble Lake (after rescuing the Koopa unit)
Bob-omb Blitz		Slide the Bob-ombs into place fast! Line up with your foe and charge! Target: Adjustable Effect: DIZZY.	12	Bowser Castle (after rescuing the Bob-omb squad)
Magikoopa Mob		Quickly trace the Magikoopa's formation! Bowser's power boosts your magic! Target: Random. Effect: BURN.	15	Peach's Castle (after rescuing the Magikoopa corps)
Broggy Bonker		Scrub all the dirt off that filthy Broggy! Scrub him until he's clean! Target: One enemy. Effect: DIZZY.	20	Broque Monsieur's Shop (after collecting all fifteen Blitties)

Mario & Luigi Specials

Mario and Luigi obtain these special attacks via Attack Pieces found by hitting an Attack Piece Block and numerous other ways.

Special Attack	Illustration	Description	SP	Location
Green Shell		Mario kicks with ; Luigi with ! Keep on kicking the shell! Target: One enemy. Effect: None.	3	Trash Pit
Fire Flower		Repeatedly press the button of whoever's holding the big fireball! Target: Random. Effect: BURN.	4	Pump Works
Jump Helmet		Land on the helmet and jump with ! Dash to the landing spots with }}! Target: One enemy. Effect: None.	6	Flab Zone
Yoo Who Cannon		Remember which barrels the bros are in! launches Mario; launches Luigi! Target: Random. Effect: None.	7	Toad Town (after mastering the Shell Mario technique)
Super Bouncer		Launch HIGH with . Move Luigi to the ball's top with . Use to squash. Target: Random. Effect: DIZZY.	7	Energy Hold
Mighty Meteor		Dash with ! Press and hold or to build power, and release to swing! Target: Random. Effect: POW down.	8	Toadley Clinic (from the intern after obtaining the Miracle Cure)
Spin Pipe		Memorize how the bros stack up! Mario stomps with ; Luigi with ! Target: One enemy. Effect: DIZZY.	10	Plack Beach (after completing Kuzzle's first puzzle)
Snack Basket		Use to eat, then repeatedly press to throw Luigi. Slam down with ! Target: All ground-based enemies. Effect: None.	14	Dimble Wood
Magic Window		Mario stomps with ; Luigi with . Both stomp together with and ! Target: Random. Effect: DIZZY.	18	Bowser's Castle (after defeating the Shroobs)
Falling Star		Aim with . Throw at the star with if the light is red, if it's green! Target: One enemy. Effect: DEF down.	20	Peach's Castle Garden

Giant Bowser battle system

Giant Bowser battling Bowser Castle

At certain points in the game, Bowser gets crushed by a large object such as Bowser's Castle, which leaves him in a dying state. In order to revive Bowser, the Bros. must play a 2D shooter-like minigame in the Rump Command. When revived, Bowser grows to a giant state. In order to complete these battles, the player must rotate their DS sideways to play. In these battles, Bowser has only three options of attack. Punching requires quickly sliding the stylus across the screen to execute. Fire requires the player to blow into the DS microphone. The last option, Healing, requires Mushrooms found within the battle itself. Defending includes an event where the player must tap the touch screen in certain areas to counter-attack, punching to deflect blows, and blowing huge flames at the enemy. After each giant battle, Bowser returns to normal. There are four such battles in the game.

Ranks

Main article: Rank

When leveling up Mario and Luigi, and Bowser occasionally reach a rank. When this happens new criteria is added to the game such as being able to equip more clothing or being able to shop at certain places. Here is a list of the ranks:

Mario & Luigi

Name	Level requirement	Benefit
Mushroom Rank	Default	Allows up to one accessory to be equipped.
Shell Rank	6	Allows up to two accessories to be equipped.
Flower Rank	12	Allows up to three accessories to be equipped.
Shine Rank	18	Allows the bros to shop at the Toadles Boutique in Toad Town.
Star Rank	25	Allows the bros to shop at the Star Shop in Toad Town.
Rainbow Rank	40	When both brothers reach this rank, gives the Excellent!! Bros Badge.

Bowser

Name	Level requirement	Benefit
Bronze Boss Rank	Default	Allows up to one accessory to be equipped.
Silver Boss Rank	10	Allows up to two accessories to be equipped.
Gold Boss Rank	20	Allows up to three accessories to be equipped.
Final Boss Rank	40	Gives the Intruder Fangs equipment to Bowser.

Items

Key items

There are many items that appear in the game that the heroes must obtain in order to advance in the game. Most of these items require the players to go through some trial, whether it be a challenge, facing a boss, or through other means.

Image	Name	Description	Location	Required?
	Vacuum Shroom	A strange Mushroom that gives Bowser the ability to inhale anything.	Dimble Wood
	Hammers	Hammers found in the Trash Pit. Use 'em to whack and break stuff!	Trash Pit
	Vacuum Block	A rare block from Broque Monsieur. In battle, Bowser inhales stuff!	Plack Beach
	Stingler	An item that might shock something. Where should you use it?